Respite
by meghanmalone
Summary: After the trauma that was "When the Dead Come Knocking", I desperately needed to see a moment of respite for Glenn and Maggie after the Governor and Merle left the interrogation room. Since that very likely won't happen in next week's no-doubt action-packed mid-season finale, I decided to take it upon myself to imagine one.


**I don't own them. But after the trauma that was "When the Dead Come Knocking", I desperately needed to see a moment of respite for Glenn and Maggie after the Governor and Merle left the interrogation room. Since that very likely won't happen in next week's no-doubt action-packed mid-season finale, I decided to take it upon myself to imagine one. :)**

**Respite  
**by Meghan Malone

As soon as they were left alone in the interrogation room, Glenn sank to the floor and Maggie went with him. Her knees were trembling and now that those men weren't looking at her, any attempt to feign strength dissolved. In Glenn's arms, she couldn't stop her tears, especially because she knew he wouldn't judge her for them. She clung to his neck tightly, caressed the fine hairs on the nape and pressed her face into his bruised, bloody skin, and reminded herself that he was _alive_. At least for a little while longer, they were both alive.

With all the walkers they'd faced, and all the other human threats, she had never come as close to losing him as she had just now. She knew in her heart that the Governor would have shot him. He may not have followed through on his rape threat, but he would have killed Glenn right in front of her if she hadn't said something. There wasn't a doubt in her mind about that.

That's what she had to believe, at least, now that she had endangered the lives of everyone they loved.

Glenn hadn't broken. He'd been beaten and locked in a room with a hungry walker while tied to a chair, and still he hadn't said a goddamn word. Not even when the Governor had briefly pointed the gun at her head. She was the one who surrendered. He was so strong and she...she'd betrayed the group.

Her trembling intensified.

Glenn's hands smoothed over her back, urgent yet tentative. "Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, but couldn't force herself to put words to what had happened. She was afraid to speak. Afraid that she'd start sobbing and not be able to stop.

"Maggie, did he _hurt_ you?" Glenn went still, like a snake coiled to strike.

She bit down on her lip to force back her emotion. She was fine. The Governor hadn't done anything to her, not really. Not compared to what Glenn had gone through, based on what she been hearing through the wall for the past few hours. "I'm fine." She pulled back and held Glenn's battered face between her hands, nostrils flaring as she took in the damage Merle had caused. "You?"

Glenn's gaze dropped to her chest. Remembering her nudity, she instinctively folded her arms over her breasts to hide them. He raised his eyes to her face, his agony plain to see, then tugged his torn, dirty T-shirt over his head and offered it to her. "Here."

She slipped it on quickly, comforted by his familiar scent permeating the soft fabric. "Thank you."

"Maggie." His jaw tightened and he stared directly into her eyes. "Did he rape you?"

She flinched at the blunt question, but met Glenn's deadly serious look head-on. She sensed that if she said yes, he wouldn't stop until he'd killed every last one of the men in this place. His rage was a thing to behold, more powerful than anything she could have imagined from the boy she'd met nearly a year ago. But he wasn't a boy anymore.

"No." She shook her head, then looked away. "He threatened it. Touched me a little. That's all."

"Touched you how?" The pain in Glenn's voice was indescribable. She was afraid to say anything that might intensify it. If they were going to get out of this place, they needed to keep their heads.

Besides, she didn't want to talk about it. Instead she cradled Glenn's cheek in her hand. "Are _you_ okay?"

"I'm okay." He followed her gaze to his bare chest and the purpling bruises he'd revealed when he'd taken off his shirt. "I'll live."

The sight of his beaten face and body lanced into her, tearing a hole somewhere deep in her belly, a hollow ache for what she'd nearly lost and might still have taken away. "Merle locked a walker in here with you." Her gaze drifted around the room before settling on the corpse lying near the far wall. "I can't believe you fought it off."

For the first time since they'd been taken, Glenn managed the ghost of a smile. "I was pretty bad-ass. Actually."

"I'll bet you were." Her chin quivered as she imagined how the encounter could have ended, and she cursed under her breath. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize about. None of this is your fault." He pulled her onto his lap and she went willingly, hiding her face in his neck. She had no idea how long they would have together before they were separated again, but she wasn't planning to let go until those bastards forcibly dragged her away.

Of course, it was more likely that they would be killed at this point rather than separated again. Because of her. Because she'd given up the only thing keeping them alive. Now that the Governor and Merle knew where their people were—her father, her sister, Carl, and oh God, the baby—they really didn't need the two of them around any longer.

They would probably just kill Glenn outright. But after experiencing the Governor's visceral enjoyment of her humiliation and suffering, she wasn't convinced he wouldn't keep her alive a little while, if only to follow through on his disgusting threat.

Maggie suppressed the sob that threatened to escape. It was time to toughen up. There was nothing to do but endure whatever happened next and just keep trying to survive. "I'm sorry I told them. You didn't break. I should have—"

Glenn shushed her and rocked her gently on his lap. "It's okay. We've got a tough group. They're in a fortified position." He took a breath. "They'll be all right."

He didn't sound certain.

"I just couldn't let him kill you." Although she knew they would each one of them die some day, and probably not as happy senior citizens, the thought of living in this world without Glenn was unbearable. She would do anything to save him. Apparently even sell out everyone else she cared about. Overcome with shame, she whispered, "I don't know how to do this without you."

"I know," Glenn murmured. He kissed her forehead, her cheek. "I know."

She'd seen shades of Rick's meltdown over losing Lori in Glenn's seething devastation when the Governor had pretended to console her, so she knew he understood the depth of her concern for his safety. Did it scare him as much as it did her, to need someone so badly in a world where the people you loved died ugly, violent deaths right before your eyes on a regular basis?

He curled his hand around the back of her neck and held her against his chest, his heart pounding as hard as she'd ever felt it. "So when you say he touched you—"

The Governor's little performance had clearly achieved the intended effect. Glenn was convinced that she was holding back, that the Governor's innuendos were a truth she was trying to protect him from. Though she dreaded putting words to the humiliation the Governor had inflicted, she knew it was the right thing to do. For Glenn's sake, if nothing else.

She took a steadying breath. "When I wouldn't talk, he told me to stand up and take off my shirt. I said no, but he threatened to come back with your hand if I didn't. So I took it off. Then my bra." Her throat constricted at the memory of the deliberate way he'd stood and removed his gun belt. Implying what he could do to her without ever saying the words. "He took off his belt, then came around the table and pushed away my chair. Touched my hair, my shoulder. Didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Then he slammed me down onto the table and so I told him to do whatever he was going to do. And to go to hell."

Glenn squeezed her tighter, but said nothing.

"He stood there for what felt like forever. Rubbed his hand on my hair. Grabbed my hip." God, how she'd struggled not to let him see her fear. Coaching herself not to cry out when it happened. She curled her hands into fists at the back of Glenn's neck, digging her fingernails into her palms. "I guess when he realized that raping me wouldn't make me talk, he decided on a new strategy. One that worked, obviously."

Glenn's hand stroked her hair, sending an involuntary shudder rolling through her body. It was too much like the tender caresses the Governor had forced on her earlier. Too intimate, at least right now. Glenn mumbled an apology and tried to back off, but she held him close.

"Please don't go," she whispered.

He splayed his fingers between her shoulder blades, sheltering her in his protective embrace. "I'm going to kill that bastard for terrorizing you like that. Merle, too...for so many reasons."

His fierce words ignited resonant anger in her belly that snapped her firmly into the moment. No more tears. They were alive, they were together, and they would find their way out of here. They had to. "And I'll help."

**END**

**If you're interested in learning more about my original romantic/erotic fiction, please check out my profile. Thank you for reading!**


End file.
